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Thanks, as always, for taking the time to answer our questions. I'll try to keep my questions down to one or two sentences this time.

Are the posters that were displayed at Toy Fair indicative of new licenses for the Minimate Universe?

Will products like BSG, Star Trek, etc see a mass market release in some form, like the Marvel 4-packs at TRU and the 2-packs at Target, or are they geared more towards a specialty market?

Any updates on the fate of Street Fighter?

Out of curiosity, is there any chance for a non-battle-damaged version of the New Avengers Spider-Man? He seems oddly out of place in his different shades of red and blue.

While on the subject of battle-damaged variations, can we look forward to seeing more of these in the future? With battered versions of Spidey (x2), Thing, Captain America, and Daredevil, I can't help but imagine what other characters would look like after a savage beat-down. I'm surprised we haven't seen a beaten up Wolverine yet.

Do you guys hold the license for Marvel movies in general, or is it a movie-by-movie kinda thing?

On the subject of movies, in the past we've seen wide-releases of minimates generally related to the movies coming out (Fantastic Four near the release of the movie, Giant Sized X-Men around the time of X3, the classic Spidey wave this summer for Spidey 3, etc). With the massive amounts of Marvel movies coming down the pipelines, can we expect to see a similar action on movies like Fantastic Four 2, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Luke Cage, Avengers, etc?

With the "Powerhouse" chest piece being the larger scale of the Marvel line, what with Thing, Beast, and now Venom and Sandman (interesting choice, considering he's never appeared all that bulky) donning the bulkier accessory, can we expect future larger scale characters to wear the same? Is there any chance of seeing figures like Hulk, Rhino, Gray Hulk, Colossus, and Juggernaut in the same swollen proportions?

I'm sure its been asked before, but is there any chance of seeing figures from waves past reintroduced into the population, via box sets, mass market sets, etc? Obviously, the variant figure is excluded (and rightly so) but I know some people are having trouble tracking down old favorites who haven't been revisited like Hulk, Iron Man, etc. Plus, revisiting some of the old characters will give a chance to update the figures using the new molds, such as the C3 feet, new torso peg, etc.

If we catch any of these all-black minimates that you send out to monitor our thoughts, do we get their pot of gold? Wait, that's leprechauns, isn't it?

Finally, you take the time to answer all of our questions, so maybe its time we answer yours. Do you have anything you'd like to ask us?

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Hey, I missed the last 2 sessions, but I have a few questions for you.

#1. Have you ever thought about or what are the chances of no more variants?

-DCD got this right from the beginging, they released 8 brand-new figures. Not only would the fans be happier with no variants but you would then use all of those useless Spider-Man Variants for future releases .

#2. Can you give us more info on 24? Anything at all??

-I love my Marvel Minimates and I love my Street Fighter Minimates and I love my DC Minimates (Sorry Chuck ). However, if I was to only have one line it would be the new 24 line. I'm so dang exicted for it, so could you please throw me a bone. Where can I expect to find these? What the chances of future season sets? Do you have a crush on Jack Bauer like I do?

#3. What are you pushing toward Mass Market?

-I know we have an exclusive Target Spider-Man wave coming (that, by the way, I LOVE). What else can we expect from Mass Market? Has Walmart come back around? Will we be able to get 24, BSG, Back to the Future, Star Trek, etc from any Mass Market Stores or TRU Stores?

#4. Where are the Vehicles?

-First we see the BSG ships scraped and then we see Marty without the Deloreon and don't even get me started on my Goblin Glider again . So, what are our chances of seeing any of those vehicles from BSG? Or maybe, like Drgnbrn asked, the Deloreon? Or, more importantly, will Marvel ever adjust your license to include vehicles?

#5. Do you hate the Ultimate Universe?

-Honestly, I think it's time you came clean. Maybe down a few and look into the mirror.......your Universist. Ok, maybe that's a bit extreme , but I do think you aren't fair to the Ultimate fans. What have we got, Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate Green Goblin and the Early Ultimate X-Men. That's it. While, I'm glad we got those, the most popular of the Ultimate Family are the "Ultimates" and we have nothing. Ultimate Iron Man and Ultimate Thor are 2 of the best designs in Marvel Comics - Period. Is there any chance we are going to see some more Ultimate figures in the future or maybe an "Ultimates Boxed Set" or something?

Well, that's all I got so far, but before I leave how about some praise. First I'd like to thank you for 24. If you couldn't tell from above, I LOVE 24 and cannot wait for the mates. I'd also like to thank you for Thor. While he wasn't #1 on my list and while I still prefer the Ultimate version, I am still looking forward to this figure, it's classic. I'd also like to say thanks for what you guys are doing to get new licenses. Minimates have easily become my all time favorite collectable because of the huge range of figures. Pretty soon, on my desk, I'm going to have Spider-Man standing next to Green Arrow, Speed Racer, Aragorn, Spock, Michael J. Fox, and Jack Bauer. Honestly, what other toy (or for that matter, entity) can you say that about? There isn't one, Minimates rule!

WWLA is going to (Did by the time you read this?) get a preview S3 set as it's exclusive. Now the timescales imply that series 17&18 are going to be released before/around SDCC, so the S3 exclusive will be kind of redundent by then. I would imagine you'd prefer to have an exclusive at a major event like SDCC rather than the tiny insignificant WWLA, so does this mean we should 'hope for' a different exclusive at SDCC? *Cough* Roslyn/Zarek*cough*

Thanks.

T.

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I'm a newbie minimate geek so I'll be brief and let the diehards get all their questions in. When can I expect to add a Laura Roslin 'mate to my collection? The prototype that was a shown a while back was the coolest 'mate ever!!! I really want a mini-Mary McDonnell throwing my other 'mates out of airlocks (or off my desk when the mood strikes) .

Thanks for the time!

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Hey Chuck. Following on from the last Q&A regarding Customer Service... I e-mailed CS about my Sentry variant breaking at the t-piece and got a reply saying something along the lines of 'sorry to hear that, but we're sold out'.

Er... That's it.

It's not just me that's been affected by spotty customer service. There's been lots of grumbles on this board lately particularly in this thread

Are you happy with DST's customer service? I know you can't please all the people all of the time but from comments on the board it looks like only a very small amount of people are getting satisfaction from CS.

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1) how do you determine how many new pieces versus reused pieces will go into a wave? For example, the Thor/Loki pack is obviously a big upfront expense with new accessories, chest piece and helmet (which, I assume, won't be terribly useful for any other characters). Conversely, Wonderman and She Hulk are composed entirely of reused pieces from existing molds. Are the decisions made on a pack-level like this, or on a wave-level (i.e., such-and-such wave will get 15 new sculpts, designer's discretion where to use them). Is it by weight of plastic? Sculpting difficulty?

2) Do the licensors retain ownership of the molds, or are they yours? For example, could you use molds made for Green Arrow's bow and quiver to do a Hawkeye mate, or would DC have the power to nix that and make you create new sculpts for a Marvel product? I can't recall off the top of my head seeing pieces from Marvel mates used in the prototypes for any other line; is that a pure design decision or is influenced by licensors?

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First of all let me say thanks for doing this. I really appreciate all the time taken to help share information with us fans.

As to my questions, just one really: since there seem to be quite a few "boxed sets" on the horizon this year, I was curious if this format lends itself to (1) comic teams that might not be front runners for the regular wave releases (such as the Young Avengers, the Runaways, the Exiles, etc.) and (2) movie/TV properties like Firefly (Serenity), Fifth Element, Buffy and Angel, etc. I know it's hard to comment on specifics, but in a general sense are releases such as these more likely in a boxed set format?

Anway, thanks again for your time and the wonderfully addictive product you supply us with.

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What's it gonna take to get another wave of Street Fighter minimates? There have been a couple of announcements regarding a new movie, and the speculation about a new game is growing - are we just going to have to wait for these things to occur, or should some bribery and/or corporate sabotage take place?

How do you feel about the J-hooks?

I love my battle-damage. I guess that's not a question. Any liklihood for a super-battle-damaged-sniper-bullet-in-the-back Captain America?

Will you guys ever come up here to the greater Pacific Northwest (just the Washington part) for our Emerald City Comic Con. We have qualities coffees and beers - you can't go wrong!

A couple of years ago, there was some stuff for SDCC with stickers "I'm a Radical, Ask me how." What was the right answer? I got a t-shirt, but I have never really felt closure on the matter.

Thanks Chuck.

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Will the Zombie mates be a small relese because of the subject matter, or will they be a wider relese? Like target or TRU relses? I ask because it can hard for me to find mates at my LCS sometimes, and I don't want these Zombie mates to be too hard to get my hands on! Or is Zombie info still hush-hush?

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Will the SM3 mates be availabe at mass market retailers, or are these going to be specialty shop only? Also, I know the classic spiderman line is going to be at Target, but will the box set with Hydroman be availabe in the store?